Connors Gets Birthday Gift: Win

NEW YORK —  Jimmy Connors celebrated his 36th birthday today by moving into the third round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, while painful knees forced Yannick Noah to quit in his match against Australian Jason Stoltenberg.

Connors, the sixth seed, beat Gilad Bloom of Israel 6-0, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 at the National Tennis Center. Noah, seeded seventh, was trailing Stoltenberg 6-2, 6-7 (9-11), 5-1 when he retired.

Both No. 3 seed Chris Evert and 2nd seeded Martina Navratilova scored easy third-round victories today. Evert defeated American Haili Cioffi 6-1, 6-2 and Navratilova topped Anne Minter of Australia 6-1, 6-3.